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(No Model.) 4 Shets-Sheet 1. WA. LORENZ & E. E. GLAUSSEN.

PAPER BAG MACHINE.

Patented De0.15,1896.

Jnvenfor wfifhesses 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. A. LORENZ 8n E. E. OLAUSSEN.

(No Model.)

PAPER BAG'MAGHINE.

Patented Dec. 15, 1896.

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W w mw Witnesse 7 (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. W. A. LORENZ & EME.OLAUSSEN.

PAPER BAG MACHINE.

V Patented Dec. 15, 1896.

1 x 7 Rim IPQlT 1| IIIL J LII Witnesses.-

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. W. A. LORENZ 85 E; E. OLAUSSEN PAPER BAGMACHINE. No. 573,277. Patented Dec. 15, 1896..

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

lVILLIAll/l A. LORENZ AND EDWARD E. CLAUSSEN, OF HARTFORD, CON-NECTICUT, ASSIGNORS TO ALBERT H. "WALKER, TRUSTEE, OF SAME PLACE, ANDTHE CONSOLIDATED S. O. S. BAG COMPANY, OF NElV YORK, N. Y.

PAPER-BAG MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,277, dated December15, 1896.

Application filed April 20, 1896.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM A. LORENZ and EDWARD E. CLAUSSEN, citizensof the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartfordand State of Connecticut,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Bag Machines,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to means for making diamond-folded bag-blanksfrom tucked-paper tubes, one of the most difficult steps in themanufacture of square-bottomed paper bags.

Although the means which form the subject of this invention may beemployedin connection with various types of paper-bag machines, it ishereinshown in its application to but one of the leading types ofmachines for that purpose, namely, the machine which is embodied inLetters Patent of the United States, No. 417,346, of December 17, 1889.

Enough of the mechanism of the abovementioned patent is shown in thedrawings to enable the connection of our present invention therewith tobe understood, and those parts of the machine of that patent which areherein shown without substantial modification are indicated by the sameletters or characters by which they are indicated in that patent.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a side view, partly in section, taken on theline a Z) of Fig. 2 of the machine of our present invention, showing inconnection therewith a blank in position and partially folded. Fig. 2 isa plan view of the machine with the blank omitted. Fig. 3 is a view ofthe blank and of the mechanism, looking from the left-hand side ofFig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view of the blank and of the mechanism whichimmediately engages it, looking directly into the open mouth of theblank and showing the suction fingers and boxes in section, the positionof these suction devices being that occupied by them when the upperplies of the blank are pushed through between them. Fig. 5 is a sideview of the blank and of its engaging mechanism represented in aposition subsequent to that occupied by them in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is anisometric view of the blank of a tucked-papertube blank, such as is wellknown in this art. Fig. 7 is aview of the blank after it hasbeen openedout by the devices of this invention to substantially the extent shownin Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a plan view of a blank after the diamond foldinghas been completed ready for the pasting and bottom-folding operations.

The tucked-paper-tube blanks may be made and fed to this mechanism inany one of the several well-known ways, and-the diamondfolded blanks,after being completed by this mechanism to the form shown in Fig. 8, maybe passed on to any one of several well-known devices for pasting andcross-folding the end flaps, thus completing the bag in its commercialform.

The feeding-rolls G and G are revolubly mounted in suitable bearings andare adapted to feed forward between them the blank to be operated upon,that blank having preferably been passed between the creasing-rolls 22and 23, having creasing-blades 24 so disposed thereon as to crease orbreak down the paper at the lines upon which they are subsequently to befolded.

The feed-roll G is provided with grippers g g and 9 by means of whichthe lower plies of the blank are held to the roll Gin substantially thesame way and are released therefrom at substantially the same times asin the Patent No. 417,346 above referred to.

The rolls I and J are mounted in substantially the same position andserve to engage and release the uppersingle ply of the blank at itscenter in substantially the same way as in the abovementioned patent,excepting that in this case the roll I is made narrower to allow of thepresence on either side thereof of the suction-boxes. To the supports ofthe roller J is also attached the distender 21,which serves to hold downthe leading lower ply of the blank and the trailing end of the diamondas it passes from the suction folding devices and the roll J.

The tucker-plate P is fitted to slide vertically in the fraine of themachine and is operated in suitable time by means of a cam 59 and itsconnections, similar to those of our United States Patent No. 534,512 ofFebruary 19, 1895;

Upon the cross-brace F of the frame of the machine are attached thebrackets 25 and 26, which form bearings for the suction-fingers 27 and28, respectively. At the left of the bearings of these fingers, as seenin Fig. 1, they have fixed upon them the sector-gears 29 and 30,respectively. The sectorgears are connected by means of the sectorbevelgears 31 and 32, respectively, pivoted on the cross-brace F of theframes, with the peripheral cam-grooves 33 and 34, formed in the roll G,by means of which an oscillatory motion is imparted to thesuction-fingers 27 and 2S, sufficient to cause them to oscillate fromthe full-line position shown in Fig. 4 to the dotand-dash position ofthe same figure. These suction-fingers are provided with an internalair-chamber having perforations leading therefrom through those wallswhich are to engage the blank, as shown in Fig. 4. An exhaust-passagefor the air extends from these chambers in the fingers through theirrespective bearings and communicates with the air-tubes 05 and 36 bymeans ofglands. (Best shown in Figs. 1 and 3.) The air-tubes 35 and 36connect bymeansof asupply-tube 37 with a vacuum box or reservoir 38,from which the air is continuously exhausted by means of any suitableapparatus.

From the supply-tube 37 extend the airtubes 39 and 40, which terminatein the suction-boxes 4.1.and 42, located on either side of the roll I.These suction-boxes are hollow and have perforations through their lowerwalls at the portions thereof which are to engage with the bag-blank.The lower perforated walls are flat, excepting at their outer ends,where they each terminate in a downwardlyprojecting hook or nose, whichis adapted to break the upper ply of the blank along the line at whichit is to be folded to form the bottom corner of that side of the bag.The time and extent of the opening of communication between thevaeuum'box 38 and the suction-fingers 27 and 28 and the suctionboxes 41and 42 are regulated by means of the valve 43, which is adapted tooscillate in the end of the supply-tube 37, so as to open and close thepassage leading from the vacuumbox 38 to the supply-tube. Theoscillations of the valve 43 are controlled by means of its connectionwith a cam 44, carried on the shaft along with the feeding-roll G. Theconstruction and arrangement of the connection between the cam 44 andthe valve 43 is clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

The suction-fingers 27 and 28 operate to engage the upper members of theinwardlytucked sides of the tube in advance of that portion of theseintucked sides which subsequently form the well-known triangular folds,and their function is to draw out the end portion of the tube from itstucked-in position (shown in Fig. 4) to its extended or rectangularposition, (shown in Fig.7,) the blank meanwhile being held by thegrippers g and by the tucker-plate P, so that the action of thesuction-fingers in thus drawing out the intucked sides of the tube shallnot extend along the blank beyond the lines on each side of the bagwhich form the lower boundary of the triangular side folds, these linesagreeing also with the position of the plane of the prospective bottomof the bag.

The function of the suction-boxes 41 and 42 is to engage with thoseportions of the upper ply of the tube which lie at the sides of the rollI and to support that ply while the bottom end of the blank is beingdistended by the operation of the suction-fingers in drawing out thetucked-in portions of the adjacent sides. The operation of thesesuction-boxes is confined to the same zone as that of thesuction-fingers 27 and 28; that is, it extends from the bottom end ofthe tube only so far as the line of the prospective bottom of the bag.Thus it will be seen that these suction fingers and boxes operate toopen the leading end of the blank into a box-like form and that theycome in contact with only those portions of the blank which aresubsequently folded into the bottom.

The operation of this machine as a whole is as follows: The tubularblanks are made and fed to and between the rolls 22 and 23 and thefeeding-rolls G and G by any of the well-known methods. As the leadingend of the tube reaches the meeting-line of the feeding-rolls its lowerply is seized by means of the gripper g and as the blank proceeds thegrippers g pass into the side tucks and engage the lower ply of theblank at the location of the subsequent corners of the bagbottoms. Theupper ply of the blank, being left free, passes between the rolls I andJ and between the suction-fingers 27 and 28 and the boxes 41 and 42. Assoon as a suitable length has thus fed forward the tucker-plate P isbrought in contact with the upper ply of the blank at the location ofthe primary transverse fold and pushes that portion of the blankdownward at the same speed at which it is advanced by the feeding-rolls.That portion therefore of the blank which is engaged between the rolls Iand J and by the suction devices is temporarily retained in the positionshown in Fig. 1, during which time the suction-fingers 27 and 2S performtheir function thereon, converting the leading end of the tucked tubefrom the condition shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 7 the air-valve43 being meanwhile opened by means of its cam 44, so as to allow thesuction to operate upon the blank through the suction-fingers 27 and 28and the suction-boxes 41 and 42. As soon as the blank is opened to thecondition shown in Fig. 7 the air-valve is closed, and the blank iscarried down, as shown in Fig. 5, by the rolls G G and by thetuckerplate P. From the position of the blank shown in Fig. 5 it isseized bysupplementary devices, which draw it away from thehereindescribed mechanism, the tube being fiattened meanwhile into thediamond shape shown in Fig. 8, as it is drawn past the roller J and thedistender-rod 21.

The suction-boxes 41 and 4,2 are preferably made, as shown in Figs. 1and 5, with angles in their lower walls adapted to form the untuckedwall of the tube at a line substantially coincident with that upon whichthat ply of the blank is subsequently folded as one of the bottomclosing flaps thereof. These suction-boxes thus serve to define thatline and to support that portion of the tube which lies toward the endfrom that line in a position substantially parallel with thelongitudinal center of that portion of the blank, in order that theintucked sides may be free to fold upon the desired lines and in orderto hold those portions of the ply engaged by them in their respectiverelations to the resultant .rectangular box. The means hitherto employedin making these folds in this form of bag have operated upon thoseportions of the tube which are located above the intended plane of thebag-bottom. Those portions of the tube which lie below that plane, andwhich in this invention are engaged by the folding mechanism, havealmost invariably been left entirely free to take whatever form theymight under the influences of the means brought to bear on the otherportions of the tube. The result has been that these bottom portions ofthe tube, the formation of which is so important to the perfection ofthe folds and of the bag, being thus uncontrolled have been more or lessdistorted when they were subsequently folded and flattened down. By themeans herein shown we are enabled to definitelycontrol and shape thispart of the tube.

It is not an essential feature of the invention that the suction fingersand boxes shall be confined in their operations to the particular sideor sides of the blank with which they are shown to engage in thedrawings. In other and modified organizations of their cooperatingmechanism to which the devices of this invention are applicable it maybe permissible, and indeed preferable, to have them engage the oppositemembers of the tuckedin sides of the blank, or a pair of thesuctionfingers may be employed on each side, thus engaging all fourmembers of the two tucked sides of the blank and operating to draw themout with perhaps a greater degree of positiveness.

lVe claim as our invention- 1. In combination with means for supportinga tucked-paper tube, a suction-finger adapted to engage a tucked side ofthe tube between the folds thereof, and adapted to unfold that side intoa plane wall, substantially as described.

2. In combination with means for supporting a blank of tucked-papertubing, a pair of oppositely-disposed suction-fingers adapted to engagethe blank between the membe s of the tucked sides thereof, and adaptedto open them into substantially rectangular form, as specified.

3. In combination with means for supporting a blank of tucked-papertubing, a pair of opposite-disposed oscillating suction-fingers arrangedwith their axes substantially parallel with the longitudinal position ofthe part of the blank to be folded, and adapted to vibrate thereon, forthe purpose specified.

4c. In combination with means for supporting and feeding a paper tube, apair of oppositely-disposed oscillating suction -fingers, having a crosssection of substantially a closed -\I form, with openings through one ofthe walls thereof, and with means for eX- haustin g the air from theinterior thereof, su bstantially as described.

5. In combination with a traveling folding bed adapted to support ablank of tuckedpaper tubing, and with a tucker-plate adapted 1 to travelwith and define the primary transverse fold thereof, a pair ofoppositely-disposed oscillating suction-formers adapted to engage thoseportions of the intucked sides of the blank which are to form thebag-bottom, with means substantially as described for oscillating thefingers and exhausting the air therefrom in suitable time and relationto the tucker-plate, substantially as described.

(3. Means for convertingthe end of a tuckedpaper tube into a box-likeform, consistingof suction-boxes adapted to engage with and support theend of the upper ply of the tube, and of a pair of oppositely-disposedoscillatin g suction -fingers adapted to engage the tucked sides of theblank, and adapted to open those sides into rectangular relation withthe outer plies, substantially as described.

7. In a machine of the class specified, in combination with means forsupporting a blank of tucked-papertubing, means adapted to engage withand open into a box-like form those portions of the plies thereof whichare to form the bottom of the bag, consisting of suction-boxes adaptedto engage the edges of an untucked side Wall of the tube, and with apair of oppositely-disposed suction-fingers located adjacent thereto andadapted to square out the tucked sides of the blank, substantially asdescribed.

8. In combination with feeding-rolls, the roll J, adapted to open theleading end of the blank, and with a tucker-plate adapted to form theprimary transverse fold thereof, means for opening into rectangular formthose portions of the tube which are to form the bottom plies of thebag, consisting of suction-boxes adapted to support and form one of theuntucked side walls of the tube, and a pair of oscillatingsuction-fingers adapted to engage with and unfold the tucked portionthereof, substantially as described.

' \VILLIAM A. LORENZ.

EDIVARD E. OLAUSSEN.

IVitnesses:

JENNIE NELLIs, W. H. I-Iomss.

